Beading Projects For Fun and Profit – Part II

In the last article, we began with a discussion of the difficulties a hobbyist can face when attempting to make his/her bead craft hobby pay. The second half of that article focused on some of the more profitable and attractive projects out there if this is indeed your goal. In this article, we’ll continue our examination of the many possible directions your beading projects can take on your quest for profits.

Matched Sets: The upshot here, is that the field is somewhat less crowded and thus, easier to enter. It’s one thing to whip out a pair of earrings, but to create a matching ensemble is quite an undertaking. Definitely an advanced line of beading projects, even if the designs are relatively simple. On the plus side, you can generally charge a premium for matched sets, but this is balanced by the fact that they are slower to produce. If you want to make enough for sustainable profits, it is imperative that you streamline processes in your beading projects and keep your designs simple, yet original.

Ceiling Fan Pull Chains: A smaller, niche line of beading projects with good profit potential. Your market is smaller for these products than for jewelry, but there’s less competition. Even when using a complex design, these can be produced quickly. If your designs are innovative, you can carve out a highly profitable niche for yourself. A heartily recommended “for profit” line of beading projects!

Of course, settling on one or more projects to make the centerpiece of your “for profit” efforts is only part of the story. Once you have settled on the line of projects you want to pursue, create and perfect your initial designs and then make some inventory for yourself, your efforts will be for nothing if you don’t pay an immediate attention to marketing. A thing that many hobbyist forgets (or don’t realize) is that the best, most innovative line of beading projects on the planet is worthless without proper marketing. If no one knows your beading projects exist, no matter how much time you’ve invested in your beading projects, you will have little, if any success and certainly no sustainable profits.

This is one of the great frustrations of many hobbyists trying to make money with their beading projects. They have a “build it and they will come” mentality, and many put almost no effort into the marketing aspect of the craft.

Especially if you are just starting out, you can expect to spend as much (or more) of your time marketing as you will actually creating product. Your marketing efforts, like your bead craft projects, can be as simple or as complex as you care to make them, and can involve any combination of ‘net based, local exposure, and hand selling efforts. Again, like your projects, your marketing efforts don’t have to be perfect, but they do have to be sustained and focused!

Anyone with a bit of experience in bead craft can turn their beading projects profitable, but it takes a plan, persistence, and patience, and don’t forget marketing!

To learn more about this and related topics, see Bead Craft Chris Hartpence and his wife, Christina, live in a small seaside town in South Carolina. Both are lifelong artists and die-hard do-it-yourselfers.